LINCOLN, Ark. – Apple cider? Check.

Apple dumplings? Check.

Bushels and bushels of the best fresh apples around? Check.

Anyone looking for these things might have a hard time nowadays finding them all at once. But for many Northwest Arkansas residents, there’s one place that has always been able to whet that apple appetite.

It’s called Appletown, and it’s still going strong.

“There was a rumor floating around that we weren’t here anymore,” said Brian Reed, owner of Appletown. “But you know how those things get started. We’ve never been gone.”

Reed has owned Appletown for the last six years. With deep family roots in the apple business, Reed is one of the last apple men in not only Northwest Arkansas, but in the entire region. But although growing and selling apples is a passion of Reed’s, he’ll be the first to admit times aren’t easy for his line of work.

“The apple business is not what it used to be like years ago,” Reed said. “We have a pretty good season in the month of October, but then that’s it.

“At one time it was a pretty live wire around here. We had lots of buyers and sellers all around. But now we’ve had to get out and make more money in other ways.”

Located on the eastern outskirts of Lincoln, Appletown has for years been a fixture for many families. No matter where they came from or how far they traveled to get here, stopping in Appletown for some homemade cider and apple dumplings is a tradition for many.

The struggle now for Reed and his wife, Jane Waters – who helps Reed run Appletown – is making sure that tradition continues.

Apples and apple orchards have been a part of the Lincoln community since the 1820s. Settlers from the Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky came to Arkansas with apple seeds in their pockets and profit on their minds. And for more than a century, a big profit was made.

By the early 1900s, more than 4 million apple trees were planted in Benton and Washington counties, more than any other two counties in the United States. Families all around were in the business, including Reed’s.

“We came here in 1827 and we’ve been growing apples ever since,” Reed said. “And you just hate to give something like that up.”

Appletown itself has been around as long as the apple growers, according to Reed. First owned by the Rogers family, Reed kept the bloodlines going when he bought the place six years back.

“A lot of people don’t know this, but the Reed family is a part of the old Rogers family,” Reed said.

And much like the Appletown of old, Reed has done his best not to change a thing.

There’s still cider sold out of the Appletown store. There’s still those tasty apple dumplings. And, of course, there’s still those delicious apples.

“It’s still the same,” Reed said. “We sell the apple dumplings and we sell the cider just like we’ve always done.”

While some parts of Appletown are unchanged, other parts have taken a dramatic turn.

At its peak, more than 150 acres around Appletown were being used for apple orchards. Today, that 150 acres is gone.

“It’s down to salvage right now,” Reed said. “And they should just go ahead and get rid of what’s left. Because then it would look prettier around here without those dead trees all around.”

Back when the apple business was booming, apples sold at Appletown came right from the nearby orchards. Now, Reed must travel to Missouri, Illinois and other areas to get his product.

And where numerous families used to rely on the apple orchards as a way of life, Reed said it’s hard to find more than a handful around Northwest Arkansas that still depend of the business today.

“There’s not many of us left,” Reed said. “There’s us and a couple of others around Springdale, and that’s it.

“It’s kind of like the horse and buggy. You don’t see the horse and buggy around anymore, just like you don’t see apples around anymore.”

Around June each year, Reed opens the Appletown store. Then during the next six or seven months, depending on the crop, he’ll stay open. But it’s hard to match the days of old.

“It used to stay open all the way through Christmas,” Reed said. “But now we might get to Thanksgiving if we’re lucky.”

Reed doesn’t know why folks began to think Appletown was ever closed down. Perhaps it was because of the loss of local apple orchards. Or maybe because the store cut back on staying open through the end of each year.

Whatever it was, Reed promises the Appletown of old is still alive and well.

And if it’s up to him, things are going to stay that way for a long, long time.

“Say 75 or 100 years ago, it was a very healthy business,” Reed said. “But a lot has changed.

“We still have access to good apples, and we still have the good cider, but it’s tougher now. But I think Appletown will be here for several more years. Then again, you never know. Like they say, every dog has its day.”